Regular Season, Game 30: Hurricanes v. Montreal Canadiens

For the first time in 12 days, the Canes took the ice with an almost full arsenal against a Montreal team that was without almost its entire starting lineup with COVID and injury problems. I'd usually be much better about posting this right after a game ends, but, against my better judgment, I actually was in PNC Arena for this one. It was the first time I'd been in Raleigh with a full crowd since January 2020 and just my second game of the calendar year. I picked this game for the reasons most people would. It was against Montreal, a team I was expecting them to beat a few months ago after I bought the tickets, and it was the first time Jesperi Kotkaniemi would've played against his former team on home ice. I bought the tickets way before any of their COVID issues started, so I had no clue they were going to be this bad. I'm going to keep this one short, just give my thoughts about the game and things like that. 

Thoughts on the Game

The first period felt very much like a game between a team without its players against a team that hadn't played in almost two weeks. The first ten minutes of the game were not pretty. I thought Tony DeAngelo looked a bit sluggish for most of the night and Vincent Trocheck had a bad first period, taking two penalties in short succession late in the first period. Neither team passed the puck well and there was a lot of general mismanagement of the puck. What didn't look like it'd been off for 12 days was the Canes' special teams units. The power play scored on its first opportunity, courtesy of a putback by Nino Niederreiter after Kotkaniemi deflected the initial shot, and the kill scored a short-handed goal in large part to the insane chemistry between Sebastian Aho and the goal-scorer, Teuvo Teravainen. After taking a 2-0 lead into the first break, the Canes dominated the last two periods, getting two more power play goals from Teravainen and Seth Jarvis. Raanta was perfect on the night, making 26 saves and earning his first shutout with the team and the 14th of his career. 

Special teams were what won the game for the Canes. They finished three for five on the power play while stopping all five Montreal attempts. Nothing really happened when the game was at even strength. I could count on one hand the number of dangerous opportunities Montreal had all night. Jake Evans rang the post early in the first, Cedric Paquette was denied in close later in the first, then Raanta made two huge saves on Lukas Vejdemo in the second and third periods, but nothing else felt too high quality for the Canadiens. I didn't even realize Brendan Gallagher got hurt during the game and honestly still couldn't tell you when it happened. He wasn't that noticeable and neither were Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield for large portions of the game. Props to Sam Montembeault for keeping this as close as it was. The Canes could've won this game by way more than four goals if he hadn't played as well as he did. He was the only player for Montreal that felt like he was working hard the entire game. After playing those two games before the holidays under-manned, it was nice to see the Hurricanes play with a bit of an advantage and capitalize with a good win. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Antti Raanta (26-Save Shutout)

I know I've talked about how it didn't feel like he had to work too hard all night, a shutout is still a shutout. I don't mean to take anything away from his accomplishment, but this wasn't a good Montreal team. That being said, he made some big stops at key moments, the save on Vejdemo being arguably his best of the night in the second period. He played well after having so many days off. 

Second Star- Jaccob Slavin (3 Assists)

Slavin's offensive production has been an underrated part of his season so far. He contributed on all three of the power play goals in the game with three secondary assists. His defense was phenomenal as it always is against the opponent's best line. I'd love to see him get a goal here in the next few days since he only has one so far this season. 

First Star- Teuvo Teravainen (2 Goals)

I love it when Turbo shoots the puck because it doesn't feel like he does it often, but when he does, the puck goes into the net. He benefitted from two stellar passes tonight from Aho and Necas, but he also placed both of his shots perfectly past Montembeault. He may have been the best forward on the ice for either team tonight, with Aho giving him a run for his money in that regard. 

Final Thoughts

This was a good way to finish the calendar year of 2021. The team posted that they finished 2021 with the most wins and the highest point percentage of anyone in the league in the last 365 days, which speaks volumes to the job of both the front offense and coaching staff in bringing together a group of guys that can play at a high level each and every night. This win may have come against a largely AHL roster, but the Canes went through their bumps with COVID too, so I don't have much sympathy for the Canadiens on that front. Overall, this was a decent win after being off for almost two weeks, even longer for some of the guys in protocol before Christmas. Sebastian Aho recorded his six straight multi-point game with assists on both of Turbo's goals and Seth Jarvis lit the lamp for the first time in a while. It was awesome to be back in the arena at full capacity. I always love going to see games in person. The team will play their first game of the New Year on New Year's Day against the Blue Jackets in Columbus for an afternoon start.